It would allow Google or other companies to track which result the user clicked without resorting to more complex JavaScript tracking or redirects.

I bet anyone would prefer the ping method rather than the redirects we see on Firefox that mangle copied urls.

You seem to be of the opinion that no tracking would be better. And that's fine and a popular opinion around here. But that's not an option as Google relies heavily on the clicks as an input for ranking.

So in a context where you consider tracking HAS to happen ping does offer advantages for the user.